Performing actions based on capturing information from rendered documents, such as documents under copyright

Abstract

A hardware, firmware, and/or software facility (“facility”) for providing information relevant to rendered documents is described. In some embodiments, the facility identifies multiple versions of an electronic document corresponding to a rendered document captured by a capture device. The facility may then provide a person utilizing the capture device with various ways to interact with one or more versions of the electronic document. In some embodiments, the facility determines that use of a rendered document is restricted, such as by copyright, to some degree. The facility may then offer the person the option to obtain unrestricted use of the rendered document. If the person accepts, the person obtains the right to store captures of the rendered document. If the person declines, the facility automatically discards captures of the rendered document. In some embodiments, the facility may automatically purchase rights to restricted-use rendered documents based upon the person's pre-defined criteria.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 receiving a capture of a portion of a rendered document; 
 based on the capture,
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright and 
 determining an electronic counterpart to the rendered document; 
 
 identifying a plurality of actions not prohibited by the copyright, wherein the plurality of actions include an action for obtaining a license to the rendered document and an action to provide electronic access to the electronic counterpart; and 
 providing instructions for a plurality of display elements, wherein each display element is associated with at least one action of the plurality of actions. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying a watermark included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and determining that the rendered document is protected by the copyright based on the identified watermark. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying text included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified text. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the electronic counterpart. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the electronic counterpart comprises:
 identifying copyright metadata associated with the electronic counterpart; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified copyright metadata. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an indication that a display element associated with the action for obtaining the license to the rendered document is selected; and 
 in response to the indication, obtaining the license to the rendered document. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 after obtaining the license for the rendered document, storing at least the portion of the rendered document. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing an offer to acquire the license to the rendered document; 
 determining that the offer to acquire the license is not accepted; and 
 deleting the capture based on the determination that the offer to acquire the license is not accepted. 
 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a capture of a portion of a rendered document; 
 based on the capture,
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright and 
 determining an electronic counterpart to the rendered document; 
 
 identifying a plurality of actions not prohibited by the copyright, wherein the plurality of actions include an action for obtaining a license to the rendered document and an action to provide electronic access to the electronic counterpart; and 
 providing instructions for a plurality of display elements, wherein each display element is associated with at least one action of the plurality of actions. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying a watermark included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified watermark. 
 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying text included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified text. 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the electronic counterpart. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the electronic counterpart comprises:
 identifying copyright metadata associated with the electronic counterpart; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified copyright metadata. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication that a display element associated with the action for obtaining the license to the rendered document is selected; and 
 in response to the indication, obtaining the license to the rendered document. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 after obtaining the license to the rendered document, storing at least a portion of the rendered document. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 providing an offer to acquire the license to the rendered document; 
 determining that the offer to acquire the license is not accepted; and 
 deleting the capture based on the determination that the offer to acquire the license is not accepted. 
 
     
     
       17. A device, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if the instructions are executed by the processor, cause the device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a capture of a portion of a rendered document, 
 based on the capture,
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright and 
 determining an electronic counterpart to the rendered document, 
 
 identifying a plurality of actions not prohibited by the copyright, wherein the plurality of actions include an action for obtaining a license to the rendered document and an action to provide electronic access to the electronic counterpart, and 
 providing instructions for a plurality of display elements, wherein each display element is associated with at least one action of the plurality of actions. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The device of  claim 17 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying a watermark included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright base on the identified watermark. 
 
     
     
       19. The device of  claim 17 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying text included in the capture of the portion of the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified text. 
 
     
     
       20. The device of  claim 17 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright comprises:
 identifying an electronic document corresponding to the rendered document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified electronic document. 
 
     
     
       21. The device of  claim 20 , wherein determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified electronic document comprises:
 identifying copyright metadata associated with the electronic document; and 
 determining that the rendered document is protected by copyright based on the identified copyright metadata. 
 
     
     
       22. The device of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication that a display element associated with the action for obtaining a license to the rendered document is not selected; and 
 in response to the indication that the action for obtaining the license is not selected, deleting the capture.